Water: a decorahnews.com special report

Posted: Mon, Aug 29, 2016 1:40 PM

(Comment by decorahnews.com's Steve Peterson):

After spending many weeks researching the issue of water quality in Iowa, it has come to my attention that it is probably the paramount issue facing the state; one that must be dealt with through sweeping reform in favor of conservation.

In dealing with the issue of managing water quality, however, what seems most important is the management and conservation of soil erosion and sediment.

It is well known that runoff from agricultural fields and urban centers carries harmful nutrients and bacteria to the water, however, that same process also carries soil and sediment. Aside from carrying all of those harmful nutrients and bacteria, soil and sediment adds turbidity to the water, which can have negative impact on the whole ecosystem.

Moreover, the loss of soil is a danger not just for water quality, but also for the entire agricultural industry in the state. The soil is the lifeblood of Iowa's economy and it has been rapidly eroding and degrading over the last century.

We live in a state that is being torn between the future benefits of conservation and the immediate benefit of agricultural profit. Our state economy thrives on the work of farmers and agricultural workers, many of whom recognize the importance of maintaining the soil as our most valuable asset. But the number of those farmers who see conservation as vital is often offset by farmers who are concerned more about short-term profit.

There have been some great conservation efforts put forth by portions of the agricultural sector, but even these efforts by concerned farmers will not be enough to keep the water safe for our ecosystem and ourselves.

The Iowa legislature recently put forth a strategy to reduce levels of nutrients in the water, called the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, but this plan is on a voluntary basis and fails to address the soil erosion which carries nutrients to the water in the first place.

While it seems like this sort of plan is progress, this came after a huge reduction in the amount of Iowa's CRP land--land which was specifically set aside to reduce the amount of eroding soil and to bolster the populations of native plants and wildlife

At a reduction of nearly 500,000 acres of CRP land in seven years, in my mind it would not be too much to assume that keeping this land in CRP would have significantly improved the current quality of our state's waters.

Not only would a restoration of this CRP land, as well as an increased use of farming techniques such as buffer strips and crop rotation, improve our water quality, but it would also maintain our soil quality and the general health of this economic engine.

I have been personally disappointed knowing that Governor Branstad has considered this issue "a war" between urban and rural groups, because the setbacks surrounding the issue should concern each group equally.

Whether or not climate change is to blame, it seems that there has been a definite trend in warming over the last few years, which has increased the amount of water in the atmosphere and thus rainfall. In Decorah alone, we have had one of the wettest years on record, which directly contributes to the rate at which soil is transferred to the water. Now, more than ever, it is vitally important to come together to create strategies to improve our state's waters.

To maintain the waters of Iowa, these efforts to conserve our soil must no longer be carried out on a voluntary basis. Urban and rural groups alike need to look at the issue of water quality as a collective fight to improve not only that which we survive on, but that which we thrive on.